St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1887-01-29
SHEEP AND DOGS.

Laws In Different states Regulating the
Liability OF Dog-Owners.
Not only is the owner Of dog liable
for its acts. but any one who harbors it
or allows it upon his premises. is also
liable. But a person is not responsible
for the acts Of dog which he tries to
drive away from his premises. or for
those Of dog allowed to remain tenn
porarily there. as in the case Of one
who keeps boarders and permits them
to keep'a dog on the premises; but in
that case the owner of the dog is liable.
The laws with regard TO 5liability for
injury done by dogs to sheep vary con-
siderable in the different States. In
Vermont. New York, Pennsylvania.
delaware, Ohio. California, Tennessee.
Alabama. Minnesota. Oregon. Illinois.
New Jersey and Mississippi the statutes
expressly provide that any person may
kill dog found worrying or injur.ng
sheep. In Michigan any person may,
without rendering himself liable
to civil or criminal action, kill
. dog he may see chasing. wor-
rying. wounding or killing sheep.
swine. cattle or any other domes-
tic animal. In Maryland the owner of
= dog is exempted from liability for
sheep killed. il he kills the dog imme-
diately on receiving notice of the in
jury; but If he fails to do so, the owner
Of the sheep may kill the dog and re-
cover double damages. In New Hamp-
shire and Massachusetts the owner of
any domestic animal. and in Wisconsin
the owner of any sheep or lambs. may
recover from the town for any injury
inflicted by dog. II he chooses the
owner of the injured animal may SUE
the owner Of the dog instead of claim
ing damage from the town; but il he
prefers to prove his loss to the super
visors, and accept an order on the
town treasurer for the amount. the
claim is transferred to the town, which
may recover against the owner of the
dog; but the owner Of the sheep can
not thereafter recover against him. In
Rhode Island, the first time dog wor-
ries a sheep the owner can recover
damages from the person who harbors
or owns the dog. II after the first no
tice the dog is still allowed to live and
Injuries sheep again. his owner is liza
BILE for double damages, and the
court may order the animal killed.
In Alabama, California, Vermont
and Wisconsin double damages can
also be recovered. In Connect
cut whoever has lost by dogs worry
ing or killing his sheep must Civ.
notice to the town selectmen. and
these may sue the owner or harborer
of the offending dog. and upless the
sheep owner is REIN cursed by the suit.
the town becomes liable for the dam.
ages. To provide fund to meet this
liability, dogs are licensed. and the
license fees are held to meet such claims.
When several dogs belonging to
different owners unite in committing
mischief, 1t common law each owner
is liable ouly for the acts of his own
animal. There would naturally be
considerable difficulty in ascertaining
the extent of the injury done by each
dog. but the jury can adopt any reason
able rule for ascertaining the damages:
II the animals are Of unequal size and
have different capacities for mischief.
the Jury may take into consideration
the damage done by each in approx.
mating the liabilities of the owners.
BY statute. however. in Connecticut.
Vermont and Ohio. the several owner:
Of dogs that unite in mischiefare jointly
liable therefor; while in Pennsylvania
each owner is liable for the whole in
jury in the doing Of which his dog was
Jointly cngaged.-RSrol Ne" Yorker.